FYI...

I am known to occasionally pop into an Orthodox church if they are offering Vespers or Compline during the week. I have found that one of the challenges of ordained life that I had not heretofore considered was the luxury of being able to just sit in a pew with my wife and worship and not have to be up front running the liturgy. While being an officiant is still worshipful for me, it is just a whole different ball game. You can't just sit and contemplate the Holy Mysteries too long if it means your mind wanders off. (This is a bad thing if you are an officiant in the liturgy.)

Since there are not that many Episcopal Churches in Lincoln who offer worship services that do not conflict with the times we offer services at St. Mark's, I am known to liturgically dabble at other churches if the opportunity arises. I tried going to a Roman mass from time to time on Saturdays, but I got really hacked off at a sermon one time and haven't cared to go back. This led me to a Ukrainian Orthodox Church relatively close to my side of town which does Compline on Wednesdays at 5:30.

Ukrainian Orthodox Liturgy is something that I have found is beautiful but with a lot of liturgical elements I have never seen before. I find it interesting since it is from a completely different branch of Christianity. It is a very small church, but it has a really cute worship space. The people that show up for Compline (usually about 5 or maybe 6) are all very friendly and love having my wife and I go out to dinner with them afterwards.

Last Wednesday, the priest there was all atwitter with the news that the Orthodox Study Bible had finally been published. He let me peek at his, which was hot off the press apparently. It has apparently been a 20 year project. Apparently it is an entirely new translation of the Old Testament Septuagint. The New Testament Study Bible had apparently been out for a while, but this is the completed edition.

From my precursory look at it, I have to say I was impressed at the amount of scholarship and theological commentary in it. Granted, this was a 5 minute perusal. But I was impressed enough to order one. One can never have too many quality bibles with commentary. For those of my readers like myself who suffer from the malady known as Anglican book fetish, you can read more about this at http://orthodoxstudybible.com/.

FYI...

Comments

The Observer said…
"Anglican Book Fetish" - I never knew there was a term for that particular addiction of mine. I will savor it for years to come.

In another vein, being on Vestry of our Parish and frequently "hosting" instead of sitting in the pew, I recognize your dilemma as one I too have experienced from time to time. Glad you can find the outlet you have.

Pax
3/08/2008 2:30 PM
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